On the Menu Monday

jalapeno kettle chip crusted chicken 

We love jalapeños and chips so this was a no brainer to try. It was moist and had lots of flavor. When making it, the chips didn't want to stick...maybe an egg wash would help. Or be careful not to shake off too much of the buttermilk. The homemade ranch is also really good. We used it as a salad dressing.

We decided to teach Peyton how to husk the corn on our front porch. (PSA: you don't shuck corn, you husk it! You shuck oysters. I've been wrong all this time, y'all!) I think he enjoyed it, just not the strings. It's so cute that he wanted to feed it to the birds.

baked ziti

This is a great recipe for 2 reasons: it's pretty inexpensive and it makes a TON. I followed the recipe's reviews and covered it with foil. Next time I want to try covering it for just half of the baking time so that it wont be as juicy. I also want to experiment with the way I layered it. Some reviewers say to mix a ladle of sauce in the noodles before assembling the dish. Either way, Josh loved it and has brought it for his lunch two days in a row.

We have a pretty old inside joke about baked ziti in the Russell Corner. (Mamaw Carole, I hope you're reading this!) After our honeymoon, Josh had to have a few surgeries to fix his patellar tendon again after getting a staph infection in Jamaica. They were pretty painful and not very fun. Luckily, we were able to go home for a few days before the last one. The first night home, Mamaw offered to bring over hamburgers and her famous chips and salsa. Josh had seen baked ziti on Rachael Ray that morning and said "What if you take the ground beef and make baked zit instead?" Mamaw was a little surprised by this request and said "Umm...okay...I guess I can do that." Josh then says "If I don't get some baked ziti, someone will get hurt." LOL thank you pain meds! Sweet Mamaw came to his rescue and brought some over. I'm in tears from laughing just writing out this story. Love you, hubby!

stuffed tilapia and asparagus

Not a fan of this one. I don't know what went wrong. I used bread crumbs instead of stuffing mix since that's what I had on hand. It just didn't have enough flavor. Since the fish was in the oven, I used the above recipe for the asparagus in the microwave. It turned out great and I'm happy to report that Peyton ate his helping. I loved the lemony flavor. That's the leftover quinoa from a few days ago.

BBQ shrimp minnestrone

You HAVE to make this recipe! The BBQ sauce and chicken broth make an amazing soup base. I also love the roasted corn and had no clue it was so easy to do. I used whole wheat pasta and it did fine. I think next time I will double it to have more leftovers. GREAT FIND!